


Moonlight Dance

by Enbees



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: First Kiss, Gift Giving, M/M, Mello makes a series of "bad" decisions, Slow Dancing, Valentine's Day, meroniaevent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29449755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enbees/pseuds/Enbees
Summary: Mello hadn't intended to get Near a present. It happened anyway. He certainly hadn't expected to skip the Valentine's day dance and spend it alone with Near.It happened anyway.
Relationships: Mello | Mihael Keehl/Near | Nate River
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30
Collections: Meronia Event (Feb 14 - Feb 20 2021)





	Moonlight Dance

**Author's Note:**

> adhd sucks and valentine's day is almost over but i managed to finish it  
> im sorry if it's extremely rushed but i needed to get it out gjndfkg  
> I hope you enjoy!

Valentine’s day is a huge event at the Wammy’s house. Even the most intelligent, diligent, focused students need breaks from the constant worry of living up to their mentor. When the orphanage was founded, it really wasn’t a big deal. A small gathering of the kids from the first generation, exchanging small gifts, spending some time together. It became a bigger deal as the years went by, the staff canceling classes for the day, the more creative kids making decorations, all put together for a little gathering. The idea of a valentine's day dance, however, was completely new. Mello thought it was a waste of time, to be completely honest, but Matt seemed excited, so he just shut his mouth. Matt loved valentine's day because he got to skip out on classes and fuck around. Mello didn't particularly like the activities themselves, but he loved it anyway, for one reason: chocolate. He never even had to ask, he just ended up with his stash tripling in size every time. Being one of the top students, and actually being  _ cool, _ unlike Near, had its privileges.

Valentine’s day went the same way every year. Mello and Matt would make a game of receiving gifts, comparing at the end of the day, the winner taking whatever gift they want from the loser. Half the time they ended up sharing anyway, but the competition was always more fun with a reward. Linda would always get Near an obviously romantic gift, with little to no recognition of the intention from Near, who only got her chocolate to be polite after she started giving him yearly gifts. He only ever got one other person a gift. Mello. Near would always get Mello a little box of truffles from his preferred chocolate brand, and Mello would always sigh and throw a chocolate bar back at him. He never got anything specifically for Near, but it would make him look far worse than Near if he were to just ignore it. That didn’t mean he’d be especially happy to do so, though.

This year was going to be different, though. It wasn’t planned, he certainly didn’t intend to get Near a proper gift, but he had seen the puzzle, 2,000 pieces of clear acrylic, in passing and it just  _ screamed  _ Near. Even after he had seen it, he had simply walked past it. The fleeting thought that it was perfect for Near was just that- a thought. A thought that ate at him throughout the rest of the shopping trip. It was an embarrassing lapse in self-control that caused him to go back for the damn thing. Even worse was the fact that his mind  _ should have  _ been working at 100% when he decided to ask Linda to borrow her micro engraving tool to carve a tiny N on the bottom leftmost corner piece. 

Valentine’s day morning, Mello wakes up and stares at the crudely-wrapped gift, fighting the urge to just throw the damn thing out before he even leaves his room. He leaves it at the foot of his bed, passing through the bathroom connecting his and Matt’s room to drop a box of chocolates and a new game on the still-sleeping boy. Matt wakes with a start, knocking the gifts to the ground with a groan.

“Ugh, not cool, man.” He whines. 

“It’s time to get up, sleeping beauty.” Mello snorts. 

“This is bullshit.” Matt sits up, throwing his pillow at Mello.

“Well, you won’t get any chicks by staying in bed all day.” 

“I’unno, bed-head is pretty sexy.”

“Yeah, you look ravishing.” Mello ruffled Matt’s hair. “Now get up, asshole.” 

“Damn, give me some time to get ready, would ya?” Mello snorts, raising a hand to wave a lazy goodbye as he leaves Matt’s room, heading to the (very pink, currently) common room, where he immediately locks eyes with… Near. Of course. Near nods politely in a greeting, and his hand moves towards the bag of truffles sitting to his side. In an admittedly thoughtless panic, Mello immediately spins around and nearly sprints in the opposite direction. He doesn’t look back long enough to see the shocked, confused expression on Near’s face. What he does see is a flash of faded red, before he’s falling backward on the floor, Linda on the floor in front of him.

“Oh, Mello, I’m sorry!” She blubbers out, scrambling to stand. Mello just rolls his eyes, standing alongside her. “You’re exactly who I wanted to see, though!” She grins, taking a tiny bag of obviously-handmade chocolates out of the bag she’s holding and handing them to Mello. “Where’s Matt?”

“Probably falling back asleep instead of getting dressed like I told him to.” Melo grumbles, more to himself than to Linda. She giggles anyway, holding up her bag as she turns to run off to Near.

“Send him my way when he gets up!” Mello sticks around long enough to see her nervously hand her present to Near. It’s obvious she put more care into his present than anyone else’s, but he doesn’t seem to acknowledge it at all. Ungrateful brat. He does not, however, stay long enough to risk locking gazes with Near again. He hasn’t even decided if he wants to actually give him the present, and the panic he felt upon looking at Near certainly didn’t help. For a second, Mello wonders if he should just drop it off outside of Near’s room and let him assume some girl dropped it off for him. Though, being Near, he’d probably somehow know it was Mello anyway. 

Mello spends the rest of the day practically attached to Matt, trying his best to ignore the way Near is trying to read him from across the room. It’s not until it’s time for the (ridiculous) dance that he makes his decision, running to his room to grab the gift and chocolates to go with it. By the time he’s steeled his nerves and left his room, he can hear the chatter of the other kids from the common room. Matt is waiting for him at a table in the corner when he gets back, two glasses of punch set on the table in front of him, an over-exaggerated innocent look on his face. Mello looks down at the glasses and back up to Matt’s face quickly, breaking out into a grin.

“You did  _ not _ .” He laughs as Matt grins back. “Where did you even get alcohol?”

“I have my sources.” After a moment, Matt leans forward, whispering an answer. “There are a bunch of little hidden alcoves in B’s old room. There’s a shitton of booze packed into some of them. Dude was a maniac.”

“That much is definitely clear.” Matt holds up his drink, clinking his plastic cup against Mello’s as though it were a glass, and downs it all immediately. Mello, not looking to be outdone, chugs his just as quickly. 

“Who’s the present for, anyway? You never get anyone anything special.” Matt grins, nudging Mello slightly. “Unless you decided to get me two gifts this year?” 

“You seriously think you deserve that?” Mello snorts, lips twitching upwards at Matt’s exclamation of “Rude!” 

“It’s for Near, isn’t it?”

“I fucking hate you.”

“Seriously?” Matt places his hand on Mello’s forehead. “Are you feeling well?”

“Look, I dunno, man, I saw it in a shop and it reminded me of him.” Matt nearly chokes at that, muffling his laughter in his hand. “I know, I know, shut up. Go dance or something, ass.” Matt raises his hands in defeat, remnants of his fit of laughter still showing on his face. 

“Alright, alright. I wanted to ask Linda to dance anyway.” 

“Good luck with that, she probably wants to dance with Near.”

“Good thing he’ll be busy with you then, huh?” Matt sticks out his tongue slightly and runs into the crowd of other kids before Mello can respond. It most definitely feels pathetic to look for Near the moment Matt leaves, but he finds it difficult to stop his eyes from surveying the room. It’s easy enough to find him, a mound of white on the floor in the corner of the room. Mello walks over to him before he can convince himself to not do so, present in hand. He’s finding it hard to meet Near’s eyes. It’s definitely because the kid has a gaze that stares right through you, and definitely not because Mello’s nervous. Absolutely not.

“You got me a present.” It’s a near-unnoticeable change, but Mello can hear the shock lacing his statement. For the first time that day, Mello thinks he may not have made a mistake. At least, for once, he got a one-up on Near.

“Don’t think anything of it.” Mello mutters, handing Near the box of chocolate and his puzzle. Near looks up, almost as if asking for permission to open them, or perhaps to make sure this isn’t some trick set up by Mello. Mello just nods, averting his gaze, but bringing it back to look at the other boy once he hears him unwrapping the present. Near unwraps his gifts just as Mello would expect him to. Quietly, with one finger slicing through the tape to take the paper off in one piece. Mello finally decides he definitely is glad to have done this when he looks down to see Near staring at the puzzle in shock. His speech doesn’t seem to get the memo. “I saw it in a store and thought of you. I mean- It just… seemed like something you’d like.” 

“Yes, it definitely is. Thank you, Mello.” 

“It’s personalized too, by the way. Just a bit… Linda let me use her engraving tool, so… The bottom left corner piece has a little N.” Near almost looks uncomfortable, staring down at the ground as though he’s contemplating something. In an instant, he’s nodding to himself, standing up and grabbing Mello by the wrist. “Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m going to put this in my room.” Near answers simply. “I have something I’d like to give you in return, so I’d appreciate it if you’d come with me.” Mello opens his mouth to say no, but curiosity gets the best of him, and he allows himself to be dragged to Near’s room. Once inside, Near takes a neatly wrapped, small box out of his dresser, and hands it to Mello with a little basket full of different types of his favorite brand of chocolate. It’s Near’s turn to avert his gaze now, eyes focusing on anything but Mello. “I’ve been holding onto that gift for a while…” He mutters, eyes locked on the floor. “I just figured you wouldn’t want it. Since it’s from me. So I had it stashed away for a while, but since you gave me a special gift…” It’s hard to tear his attention from the basket of chocolates, even harder to shake the realization that Near somehow knows his preferences perfectly, but he manages to switch his gaze over to the present. It’s perfectly wrapped, of course, why wouldn’t the little brat be good at that too? Mello wastes no time in ripping the paper apart, trying to ignore Near’s amused look at his unwrapping “technique.” 

“Holy shit.” Mello tries not to say anything, he really does, but the words leave his mouth before he can manage to stop them. In the small box is a rosary, red and white beads leading down to a plain silver cross. When he looks up, there’s a small, soft smile on Near’s face. “How long have you had this?”

“...A year, two months, and 17 days.” Near mutters. Mello opens his mouth, but can’t manage to form a response. Instead, he moves his gaze to the window behind Near, where he can see the light of the full moon illuminating the yard. 

Perhaps it’s the drink he had, perhaps he’s just hyped up from surprising Near, or perhaps it’s a simple lapse in judgement, but something causes Mello to reach out and grab Near’s hand, motioning towards the door of his room. 

“Let’s just skip out on the rest of the dance. Not like either of us fit in there anyway.” Near just blinks, wide-eyed, but allows Mello to drag him out of his room, Mello grabbing his coat from his own room on the way. Mello leads him to the backyard, trying to ignore how soft Near’s tiny hand feels in his own. It feels almost magical outside, the moon lighting up the entire area, music from the dance just barely audible in the distance. Near tugs his hand down slightly, gently pulling Mello to sit on the ground next to him. Mello flinches when he realizes his hand is still in Near’s, and quickly pulls away, cheeks flushing. “Do you really want to be sitting on the ground?” He speaks up after clearing his throat. “Your clothes are all white.”

“It’s a small price to pay for this experience.” Near replies simply, staring up at the moon. Mello can see the ghost of a smile forming on his lips. 

“It really is a beautiful night, huh?” Mello cringes the moment the words leave his mouth. It’s a ridiculously cheesy thing to say, especially on valentine’s day. Especially to Near.

“Not as beautiful as you.” Near deadpans. It’s stupid, it shouldn’t make Mello feel all tingly, but he can feel his cheeks heating up anyway.

“Did- Did you just make a joke?” Mello chokes, gaping at Near, who is essentially wearing the Near equivalent of a ridiculously goofy grin. 

“I’m not incapable of humor, you know.” Near teasing him is definitely something Mello never expected to hear. 

“Sure, sure. You got lucky there.” Mello snorts. They’re silent again after that, until Mello feels a slight trembling against his arm. “You should’ve brought a jacket.” He sighs, but he’s already stripping off his own jacket and handing it to Near.

“Mello, you really don’t have to do that, I don’t want you to be cold…”

“I’m really not that cold anyway. Just put it on.” Near seems indecisive for a moment, but with a quick glance back to Mello, he puts on the jacket, practically drowning in the oversized garment. Mello can’t tear his gaze away from the small boy in his jacket, fighting the urge to think about how cute he looks like that. 

Mello has been having far too many moments of weakness, lately, but today has already been a strange whirlwind, so what’s one more strange decision? The melody of a slow song is echoing through the yard, Near is pressed up against his shoulder, moonlight shining down on them, it feels perfect, so Mello stands slowly, extending a hand to Near. Near raises an eyebrow at first, but grabs Mello’s hand anyway, pulling himself up and allowing Mello to place one hand gently on his waist. The dance is awkward, more simple swaying than dancing, really, but it feels right. They stay like that through the next few songs, holding each other close in the cold night.

Inside, Matt pauses when he looks out the window, barely registering Linda asking why he’s stopped dancing. 

“Dude, look.” He gapes, dragging Linda to the window. Even with the light of the moon, the distance makes it hard to see them clearly, but the hints of white and blonde hair make it near-impossible to mistake who it is out there. When he looks back over to Linda, her jaw is dropped, and she’s struggling to find words.

“I-Is this a dream?” She marvels. 

“You dream about Mello and Near getting along?” Matt teases.

“Perhaps sometimes.” She giggles back.

“So, are these x-rated dreams, or-?” Matt struggles not to laugh.

“Matt!” Linda cries, lightly smacking him on the arm. “C’mon, let’s leave them alone.”

“Aw, but I want to spy on Mello.” Matt whines.

“Let them have their moment!” Linda giggles, dragging him away from the window.

As the current song slows to a close, a cold wetness drips on Mello’s face, who quickly looks towards the sky.

“It’s snowing.” Near notes quietly. 

“Well, that explains the cold.” Mello mumbles, eyes trailing a snowflake that slowly makes its way through the air, melting into a little droplet on Near’s nose. He knows he’s staring, but he can’t seem to bring his eyes away from Near’s cold-flushed face. His nose and cheeks are dusted a deep pink that only darkens as the song finally finishes, Mello unable to fight the screaming urge to lean in. In the back of his mind, he’s sure he knows what he’s doing, but it doesn’t really hit him until Near’s soft lips are touching his own, Near’s hold on him faltering. He knows he should pull away, he feels sick, scared, but then Near is leaning up on his toes, moving his arms to wrap gently around Mello’s neck, and Mello’s arms lower to circle Near’s waist, tenderly guiding him closer. Near’s lips are surprisingly cold, soft and sweet against his own bitten ones. He almost doesn’t want to stop, but he manages to pull away, resting his forehead against Near’s.

“Happy Valentine’s day, Mello.” Near whispers shakily.

“Y-yeah…” Mello says through a strained laugh. “We should get inside.” They walk back inside together silently, hands just barely touching. 

“Goodnight, Mello.” Near offers him a small smile. 

“Yeah. Night.” 

Matt hears him the moment he enters his room, and barges through their connected bathroom to plop down on the bed next to Mello. 

“Oh, you’re staying in your room tonight?” Matt teases, nudging him with an elbow. Mello scoffs. “Don’t you want to stay the night with your boyfriend?” Matt motions towards Near’s room. Mello immediately turns red, eyes narrowing.

“Oh, shut up.” 

“Not my fault you were puttin’ the moves on him in full view of the common room window.” Matt grins as Mello groans.

“What, are you jealous? You want a kiss, too?”

“Too-? Wha- You kissed  _ Near? _ ”

“I- You didn’t see? I thought-” Mello sputters, face beet red.

“I just saw you two dancing! Holy shit, dude! And on Valentine’s day?” 

“I know, I know. It was a stupid impulse.” Mello buries his face in his hands.

“Sure it was.” Matt grins. “I’ll just leave you alone with your gay crisis for now. But we’re comparing gifts tomorrow!” Mello can still hear his laugh even as he makes his way back to his own room. 

He does everything he can to try to bury the nagging feeling that he wants to kiss Near again. It doesn’t work.

**Author's Note:**

> Check my linktree if you enjoyed! ♥  
> https://linktr.ee/enbees


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